Flores ready for next step as Patriots assistant

Assistant coach Brian Flores calls in plays to the defense during the Patriots preseason game against Washington.▲

FOXBORO — Brian Flores stood virtually unnoticed in a corner of the Xcel Energy Center during a massive press event in downtown St. Paul, Minn., six days before Super Bowl LII.

Flores, a Patriots' assistant who joined the organization in 2004, attracted the attention of only a handful of reporters despite having recently vaulted to prominence. He had been seriously considered for the Arizona Cardinals' head coaching vacancy and was viewed as the logical successor in New England to departing defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.

For those in attendance, Flores did not disappoint. Brooklyn born and Boston educated, he conversed candidly, easily and at length with where he had been, where he was at and where he might be going on the NFL ladder.

"Everyone, I think, wants to climb a rung, but at the same time I'm very happy in New England," Flores said, later adding, "We'll see where the chips fall and if there's opportunities out there and I feel like it's right for me and my family, first and foremost, then we'll see where it goes."

As it turned out, the 37-year-old Flores, his wife, Jennifer, a 2003 Holy Cross graduate, and their three children went nowhere and somewhere.

A month after the Super Bowl, the Patriots added the duties of coordinating the defense to Flores' job as linebackers coach. However, they didn't officially name him defensive coordinator, preferring he — as was the case with Patricia — earn the title.

After a spring of organized team activities and a summer of training camp to adjust to his new role, Flores heads into the fall confident he's prepared for whatever is ahead.

"Football, it's an imperfect game," Flores said in the days leading up to Sunday's season opener. "There's going to be ups, there's going to be downs, I try to stay even. I never get too high, never get too low, and when there's adversity I try to embrace it and hopefully we come out better after that."

That even-keeled temperament was forged in the projects of Brooklyn and polished on the plush campus of Boston College.

The son of Honduran immigrants, Flores grew up in the bleak Brownsville neighborhood but used his athletic ability and academic aptitude to land scholarships to Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn and equally prestigious BC. He was a three-year letter winner in football for the Eagles and graduated with a degree in English in 2003 before earning a master's in administrative studies from his alma mater.

While he long ago moved out of Brownsville, Flores has never moved on from that from rough-and-tumble area because it keeps him alert rather than at ease.

"Whenever I feel like there is any semblance of complacency I think back to a time when I wasn't as fortunate as I am now," Flores said. "I try to be that same kid who had a fire burning in him to get out of that area to be a success, to make my parents proud, to make my family proud. I go right there because I'm still trying to do that. That's never going to change."

Flores joined the Patriots as a scouting assistant in 2004 and spent four years working in that department before deciding he wanted to get into coaching to be closer to "the action."

Scott Pioli, then the Patriots vice president of player personnel, was supportive of the move and passed on his recommendation to coach Bill Belichick, who hired Flores as a coaching assistant — an official title for gopher — in 2008.

That meant starting over at the bottom for Flores. It was all part of giving something up to get somewhere.

"If you want to make the sacrifice to get to where you want to get to then you do it," Flores said. "If you don't then you stay in that comfort zone and maybe it works out for you, maybe it doesn't."

Complacency has never sat well with Flores, who spent another year as a coaching assistant before steadily advancing up the ladder to the point where it's now only a matter of when, and not if, he'll be named a head coach.

Drive, focus and intelligence aside, Flores' ability as a communicator and a connector has fueled his rapid rise. He relates to and is transparent with players, understanding he is both a teacher and a student of the game.

"Every player is different, but I do know there's a way to reach everyone," Flores said. "Again, with my background, I went to a private school and a private college, but I grew up in the projects of Brooklyn. So I've seen a lot of different walks of life and I feel like I can pretty much connect to everyone. You just have to find that spot for each individual person."

And eight months after Flores drew little attention in Minnesota, he finds himself in the spotlight in New England.